


It smells like love

by Anonymous



Category: Original Work
Genre: Birthday Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 10:16:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21052742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Just some birthday fluff for a birthday girl.





	It smells like love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AmyJorumStitchery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmyJorumStitchery/gifts).

”So, have you had a nice birthday so far?” he asked, taking a sip of his coffee from a large paper cup. “Have you got any parties planned while I’m away? Should I warn the neighbors?”

She smiled down at her phone, and her heart skipped a beat when he grinned back from the screen. Then he seemed to stumble, and she gave a little laugh when he managed to spill coffee on himself. “Don’t drink and walk, silly!” Her smile softened. “And no, no parties. I’m going out with a couple of friends, but. I don’t think we’ll be out so late.”

He produced a paper napkin and started rubbing at the stain on his shirt. “I have to multi-task, darling, I’m already late.” Then he looked up. “And why so? Don’t you want to celebrate?”

She didn’t say what she was thinking; that if she couldn’t celebrate with him, she didn’t see much reason to celebrate at all. Instead, she bit her lip and said, “Maybe I’m getting too old to party?”

He snorted, and it filled her with warmth. “If _you’re_ getting old, then what am I? A relic with one foot in the grave?”

“No”, she said and looked straight into the phone’s camera. “You’re _perfect_.”

He opened his mouth, perhaps in surprise, and then his whole face softened. When he spoke, his voice was laced with emotion.

“So are you, darling.”

And then he added, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, “Actually, we’re quite the perfect couple. _I’m_ perfect, _you’re_ perfect –” She giggled at his dramatic facial expressions. “– why, one might say that we’re the perfect couple!”

She knew that he had had a hard time accepting the fact that she loved him despite their age difference, but yet here he was, ignoring his own doubts to make her laugh. The love she felt for him was overflowing, and she found herself blurting out, without quite meaning to, “I wish you were here.”

Because she did. Desperately.

His face twisted into a regretful grimace. “I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry. Believe me, I wish I could have been there with you today, I –“

“No, no”, she interrupted. “It’s okay. I know you have work, and besides, you’ll be back tomorrow. I have plans with my friends anyway, so even if you were here we wouldn’t have much time together.” She didn’t know who she was trying to convince; him or herself. “It’s just a day like any other day, really.”

“It’s not, though”, he said, with feeling. “It’s your birthday. And believe me …”

He looked so earnest that her breath got stuck in her throat.

“… there is nothing that is more worthy of celebration than the fact that you were born into this world.”

_So that I could find you_, he didn’t say. But they both knew he meant it.

“Flattery will get you nowhere”, she said instead of _I love you so much it hurts_.

He laughed, and it was like music to her ears.

Somewhere in the background, she could hear someone else speak, and he looked up. Said something to the other person, and then turned his attention back to her.

“I have to go. But I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? We’ll celebrate then, I promise.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“Happy birthday, my dear.”

Inexplicitly, she felt as if she might cry if she said another word, so instead she just nodded. Her laugh, when he leaned in and kissed the screen, was a little wet, but she was smiling so wide that her face hurt.

When they ended their call, she put her phone to her chest and closed her eyes, struggling not to feel overwhelmed.

* * *

It had been a surprisingly entertaining evening, even without him. She had went to a bar with a couple of her friends, and they had had dinner, followed by drinks and dancing, and they’d been talking and laughing for hours. Now, she was home and getting ready for bed. She brushed her teeth and put on one of his old shirts to sleep in – it smelled of him, so for a couple of seconds she just stood there, breathing deeply and missing him – and climbed into bed.

In the darkness, she thought about how far she’d gotten in a year. How much he had helped her already. She had been in a dark place when she had met him, and he had not only helped her through it; he had made her grow into the person she was today. She didn’t dare think of where she’d be today if it wasn’t for him.

And tomorrow, he would be back with her. She pulled her blanket up over her nose and burrowed deeper into the pillow. _His_ pillow.

* * *

She woke up later, not knowing how much time had passed, by someone climbing into bed with her. In any other situation, that would have been alarming, but even in her sleep-addled state she recognized his sounds, his movements.

“You’re home?” she murmured and turned her head toward him without opening her eyes.

She could feel his lips ghost over hers, in a butterfly kiss. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

She smiled and reached out an arm, and pulled him down into another kiss. “Mmm, I don’t mind. Welcome home.”

He took her hand and laid down beside her, the big spoon to her little spoon, and put his arm around her. “I wanted to be here for your birthday. And there’s still …” A rustle of blankets when he checked the time. “… four minutes to midnight.”

She smiled, still without opening her eyes. He gently pulled her hair back and kissed her neck, and whispered in her ear, “Happy birthday, darling.” Even half-asleep as she was, it made her shiver.

But then he simply laid back down and got comfortable. His fingers were intertwined with hers, and he was gently caressing her hand with his thumb. She could feel his breath on her neck, and the warmth of his body against hers.

She had never felt so safe, and so loved.

“Sleep now, sweetheart”, she heard him say.

So she did.


End file.
